College football is getting to be as popular as
professional football. In some areas of the country, college football
is a lot more popular than NFL football. In Nebraska for example,
Memorial stadium in Lincoln becomes the state’s third largest city on
home football game days. The stadium becomes a sea of red as fans dress
in the team colors in support of the Cornhuskers.
Almost as
popular as discussing the games themselves is discussing the ranking
systems. The BCS ranking system is used to determine which two teams
will play for the National Championship each year. Data that is fed
into several computers along with the USA Today poll (also called the
Coaches poll) and the Harris poll are used to determine the BCS ratings
each week. The first BCS poll each year is published around mid-October
even though college football season starts in either late August or
early September.
The AP poll and the USA Today polls are the most
common polls used by the general public. There are several other polls.
ESPN has a Power Sixteen poll. Sports Illustrated publishes a poll and
so do CBS’s Sportsline and Athlon to name a few others.
The BCS
ranking system has come under a lot of criticism. Almost every college
football fan has an opinion about it, usually a strong opinion. Many
people do not like the BCS ranking system because they think there
should be a playoff to decide which teams will play for the National
Championship instead of computers deciding who will play.
Although
the majority of college football fans are in favor of a playoff, the
majority of University presidents are against it because they feel it
would make the football season too long and would affect academics.
College
football has been around a long time. The first intercollegiate college
football game was played on November 6, 1869. The game was between
Princeton and Rutgers University. The score of the game was 6-4.
Rutgers won.
The game played that day was much different than
college football as we know it today. During that first game each team
had 25 players. The rules of the game were more similar to rugby than
to modern day football. The rules for that day’s game were adopted from
the rules of the London Football Association. Every time one of the
teams scored that day it counted as a game. The contest ended after
there were ten “games” or ten scores. Whoever scored the most times won
the match. That is why there is the odd-looking score of 6-4 for that
first game.
The game of football evolved over time. In 1875 the
round ball that had been used the first six years of play was replaced
with an egg-shaped ball. In 1876 a crossbar was added to the goal
posts. The height of that crossbar was 10 feet – the same height it is
today. In 1876 the large playing field was changed also. It was made
smaller – a size that is close to the size of today’s playing field.
In
the 1880’s the game started to resemble football as we know it today.
The rules that were similar to rugby rules were changed. Instead of 25
players for each team being allowed on the field at one time, it was
changed to 11 players. More rules were changed and added over time,
many of those because of serious injuries and deaths of players. By the
late 1800’s some safety equipment was part of the player’s uniforms.
Early
football was a vicious game. By the late 1800’s the public started to
speak out strongly against the game. In the early 1900’s Columbia,
which had been one of the early teams to join the sport, decided to ban
football because it was too dangerous. Even President Theodore
Roosevelt spoke out to say that changes needed to be made to the game.
More
changes in rules and safety equipment were implemented. In 1910, an
association was formed to govern collegiate football. That body is
known today as the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). The
NCAA is responsible for the rules and regulations of college football
and is also charged with making sure the member teams of the NCAA
follow those rules and regulations.
Changes in the rules, how the game was scored, and in the ball itself in the 1930’s helped the game gain popularity.
Today,
over 135 years after the first intercollegiate college football game
was played, there are over 600 collegiate football teams in the United
States. And, yearly attendance at those games is in the tens of
millions.
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